Diana Shipping snaps up trio of bargain bulkers

Wholly owned subsidiary companies have signed three separate Memoranda of Understanding to buy the 2010-built Sunshine of 75,7000dwt and 2013-built Manzoni of 75,403dwt, as well as 2013-built Infinity 9 of 77,901dwt, all built by Jiangnan Shipyard. The vessels are slated for delivery by the end of Q1 2016.

“Not only has the Company been able to negotiate the purchase of these vessels at ‘distressed’ prices not seen during the past 15 years, but we believe that our strong balance sheet and attractive credit risk will enable us to negotiate extremely favorable financing terms with the current lenders to finance 100% of the purchase price that will be non-amortizing for two years,” said Diana shipping president Anastasios Margaronis.

“By preserving available cash, the company will maintain its strong balance sheet to weather the continuing downturn in the dry bulk market and to fund future vessel acquisitions throughout the eventual market recovery, consistent with the company’s long term strategy," he added.

Diana Shipping has been taking advantage of record lows in the bulker market to bolster its fleet recently, last month signing a $75.7m loan facility with the Export – Import (Exim) Bank of China to partially finance three newbuilds.

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